What are the Methods to Remove Hospital Reviews and Measures Against Reputational Damage?

Hospita is a hospital search site personalityized by a system where reviews are posted not by patients, but by doctors from other hospitals. In addition, it provides comprehensive information about individual doctors, including their profiles, hometowns, and hobbies. The reviews on Hospita are unique in that they come from peers in the same profession, which arguably reduces the risk of defamatory posts compared to other sites. However, it cannot be said that the risk is completely eliminated, and it is a fact that the site has many users. Therefore, we will explain measures to manage reputational damage.

Explanation about Hospita

Hospita is a hospital search site used by millions of people every month. Its distinguishing feature is the detailed search criteria, making it easy to find a hospital that suits your needs. Not only can you search by common criteria such as symptoms, specialist clinics, and holiday consultation availability, but you can also search by unique hospital features such as “foreign language support” and “home medical care availability”. If the hospital owner registers, they can edit and manage their hospital information for free, ensuring that the information is always accurate. This is reassuring for those searching for hospitals, as it reduces the risk of incorrect information being listed.

Furthermore, Hospita is fully compatible with smartphones and is designed to make it easy to contact hospitals from the site. This makes it convenient to use in situations such as sudden illness while on the go. In fact, over 80% of users access the site via smartphones. While there are other hospital search sites such as Caloo and Hospital Navi, what sets Hospita apart is that it collects reviews from doctors at other hospitals, not from patients. Knowing the evaluations from doctors with specialized knowledge provides more reliable information.

“Mei-ishi Log” Recommended by Doctors

In addition, Hospita offers a service called “Mei-ishi Log”, where you can find local doctors recommended by other doctors. For example, you can obtain information from other doctors about who is a renowned doctor in psychiatry. The service provides insights into the doctor’s personality and recommended points that only peers can provide, which can be very helpful when choosing a hospital. Hospita’s site started in 2006 and currently lists over 170,000 clinics. Since 2017, it has been focusing more on searching for renowned doctors rather than hospitals. Therefore, there is abundant data about individual doctors, including their alma mater, department, hometown, hobbies, and other personal information. Doctors’ photos are also posted, so you can get a rough idea of the person before going to the hospital. In addition, they offer a free online medical consultation bulletin board service.

If you post your symptoms from the form, the doctors at the listed clinics will provide simple medical consultations. (As they respond during gaps in consultations or private time, it may take some time.) Hospita, which focuses on individual doctors, is a site we would like to recommend to those looking for skilled and caring doctors. The operating company is EX Partners Co., Ltd., located in Shibuya, Tokyo.

What Kind of Reputational Damage Can Occur in Hospitals?

Reviews in hospitals are often given by doctors from other medical institutions, and it is possible to identify which institution posted the review. Given the professional relationships between doctors, the likelihood of negative reviews being posted is extremely low. Therefore, the risk of reputational damage occurring in hospitals is also minimal. In fact, based on our review of the site, we could not find any negative posts, only positive reviews such as “I can confidently recommend this” and “You can receive accurate diagnoses and treatments”. However, potential issues could include:

• Criticisms of low treatment standards
• Exposing past medical errors of the hospital director or doctors
• Pointing out insufficient hygiene management

While there is room for such defamatory posts, unless there is personal resentment, the likelihood of such posts from peers is extremely low.

On the other hand, there is a risk of defamatory posts on free online consultation forums. This is because the posts here are made by general users. Of course, most cases involve users who are seriously concerned and carefully write about their symptoms. However, if they are dissatisfied with the hospital’s response or if the response is delayed, there is a risk that they may post complaints. Although the forums are divided by hospital, the questions from other users and the responses from the hospitals can be viewed by third parties, so we cannot deny the possibility of this leading to reputational damage.

How to Remove Defamatory Posts on Hospita?

If you find any posts on the internet that could harm your reputation, it is necessary to remove them. First, apply for removal to the site itself. However, in the case of Hospita, there is a feature that allows you to edit and correct detailed information about your clinic, such as your approach to treatment, selling points, doctor’s profiles, and photos, if you register as an owner. After all, the only person who can edit the screen is the owner himself, so if you notice that information that is inconvenient for you is posted, you can simply delete it yourself.

The procedure for registering as an owner is as follows:

1. Search for your phone number or hospital name on the site and check if your hospital information is registered on Hospita
2. If not found, proceed to the “New Listing” screen, if found, proceed to the “ID & Password Issuance Registration” screen
3. After applying for registration, the site will verify your identity and location
4. Once verified, you will receive a registration completion email, and you can freely edit by entering your ID and password

However, it was unclear whether you can correct the contents of reviews from other hospitals and free consultation bulletin boards. What should you do if a defamatory review is made here? Even if you click on “Contact Us”, it says, “We do not respond to additions or corrections to the content by email or phone.” and you are prompted to go to the member registration screen. Regarding this point, Article 9 of the Terms of Use states the following.

It is stipulated that you must not defame third parties, and if you violate this, your use will be suspended. In other words, if this rule is applied, even if a defamatory review is posted, the user who made the post will be subject to suspension of use of the site.

Request for Deletion Due to Illegality

If your request for deletion to the site fails, the next step is to request the court for deletion due to illegality. In cases of deletion related to defamation and rumor damage on the Internet, defamation is often used. You need to state, “This post is infringing on my right to honor.” There are conditions for establishing defamation, which are “publicly,” “indicating the facts,” and “damaging a person’s honor.” “Publicly” means that it applies if it is a situation where an unspecified number of people can see it, and if it is a state where anyone can see it on the Internet. The fact of “indicating the facts” is different from the truth. If the fact is the real thing (truth), defamation will not be established. For more details on the requirements for establishing defamation, please see the article below.

https://monolith.law/reputation/defamation[ja]

In order to claim defamation, it is necessary to explain the fact that the right to honor is being infringed using legal logic, so it will be honestly tough without the backing of a legal expert. We recommend that you request a lawyer who is strong against defamation on the Internet.

Request for Deletion by Provisional Disposition

Requesting deletion does not necessarily mean that you have to file a lawsuit. There is a procedure called provisional disposition, which allows you to take action without going to court. Although legal discussions are required, it is possible to achieve deletion more quickly than with a lawsuit. Since it is crucial to remove online reviews as soon as possible to prevent the spread of reputational damage on the internet, provisional disposition procedures are commonly used in practice.

Identification of Posters through Provisional Dispositions

In provisional dispositions, it is not only possible to remove posts, but also to identify the poster. If the poster can be identified, it is possible to make claims for damages against the individual. However, identifying the poster can be a bit of a hassle. First, you request the site operator, EX Partners Corporation, to disclose the poster’s IP address. If the lawsuit is accepted and the IP address is obtained, you then request the provider to disclose personal information such as the poster’s address and name. In other words, it is necessary to make two types of disclosure requests. Since the site does not hold the personal information of the poster, this complicated procedure is necessary for identifying the poster in cases of online reputational damage, not limited to Hospita.

https://monolith.law/reputation/disclosure-of-the-senders-information[ja]

Summary

We have summarized the content and countermeasures for reputational damage on the Hospital. Essentially, the Hospital is a site with a low risk of defamatory posts. This is because the reviewers are not general users, but doctors from other hospitals. However, they also offer a free consultation bulletin board service, and it is possible for general users to post there, so the possibility of reputational damage is not zero. The site itself takes measures to suspend the use of defamatory expressions, but there is a risk that negative reviews about your hospital may slip through the monitoring and be exposed. In such cases, it is advisable to claim illegality such as defamation, and take measures such as deletion and identification of the poster. At that time, legal discussion is essential, so it is recommended to consult a lawyer.